New grants coming for My Brother’s Keeper initiative

Battle Creek will receive a portion of nearly $200 million over the next three years as work for the national initiative, My Brother’s Keeper, begins.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is part of the effort to change the dynamic for boys and young men of color in the United States. In all, 11 foundations are backing the effort, which has identified four key areas for collective action by the public and private sectors to make a significant difference – health, education, careers and justice.

“They reflected priorities the foundations had established over the years in working to improve lives and of men and boys of color,” said Gail Christopher, vice president for program strategy at the Kellogg Foundation.

President Barack Obama announced the My Brother’s Keeper initiative in February to address persistent opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color.

Over three years, the Kellogg Foundation will focus on initiatives and investments for communities under specific goals.

Here’s the breakdown of how the nearly $200 million provided by the 11 foundations will be spent:

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More than $21 million toward making all communities a place of opportunity.

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More than $26 million to elevate new narratives for boys and young men of color.

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More than $11 million to invest in field-building, leadership development and movement-building.

Christopher said the funds will be divided up into grants, as usual, and it hasn’t been decided how much funding will be granted to the Battle Creek community. Christopher said the amount is generous for a three-year commitment, but it is only the beginning. She said she doesn’t expect to see measurable change for 5 to 10 years.

“It is a lot to be focused on a particular population but we like to think of it as a catalyst,” Christopher said. “It’s a significant investment on the part of foundations but we like to look at it as a catalyst to other sectors.”

The new grants will be in addition to the funds the Kellogg Foundation said it has already spent in the past decade for racial equity work.

Reginald LaGrand, program officer at the Kellogg Foundation, said its most recent grant in this field was to Kellogg Community College in March for the KCC Center for Diversity and Innovation. The center will focus on racial equity training through White Men and Allies labs that the Kellogg Foundation previously brought to the Battle Creek community.

Eric Greene, director of public information and marketing at KCC said in a written statement the center is scheduled to open this summer.

“We at KCC are committed to supporting the people in our community in the pursuit of equity, leadership and engagement,” Greene said in the statement. “With this grant and the capacity we have at KCC to reach deeply and authentically into the community, we believe the KCC/CDI will be a powerful addition to multi-organizational efforts aimed at promoting racial equity and fostering the community’s ability to change local conditions and mindsets.”

LaGrand said the KCC grant is not separate from funding under the new national initiative.

“There’s going to be great opportunities at the local and national level,” LaGrand said.

Both LaGrand and Christopher said it’s too early to tell who will receive funding, but they stressed that the resources made available to change the outlook of boys and young men of color will be abundant.

“Part of our work is to shift the narrative and get the country to see our young men and boys of color as assets to the nation,” Christopher said.

Call Olivia Lewis at 966-0581. Follow her on Twitter: @TheWrittenPeace